Dug me a pond

[EddieWalker]

Now that I have my track back on my dozer, I decided to put it to work. I'm still a little concerned that I fixed it correctly and what else will break, so I started a little project close to my barn.

I needed to clear an opening for power lines and a water main to come into my property for my development. I got all the brush and trees out real easy with a friends John Deer 450 except one big oak tree.

I used my backhoe to get it out. When if fell over, clear water came shooting out of the ground about a foot. It looked like I broke a small water line. I dug around a little more and the water kept flowing.

It was crystal clear until the rain washed in some sediment.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

The spring is right at the base of a hill and then it flattens out for about 500 feet to the creek.

I decided to dig a big hole to hold the water as a holding tank. I want to use it to keep my main pond full. I figure on pumping about 2 thousand gallons a day, but thats just an estimate.

First step was clearing the brush and trees.

 

[EddieWalker]

Now that I have a big enough area to do some digging, it's time to move some dirt.

 

[EddieWalker]

I had to stop yesterday around noon when a storm hit. In a matter of minutes it was so slippery and muddy that I became worried about getting stuck.

My rain guage shows over 2 1/2 inches in about 24 hours.

The spring is now full and the deepest part of the pond is about feet deep with another 4 feet to go.

 

[EddieWalker]

My blade is 12 feet wide and according to Case is rated for three yards. There's hundreds of yards of material coming out of this hole, so I decided to build a pad for a hay barn and a location for my garbage dumpsters.

If you look closely, you can almost see my service entrance gate kind of high center in the picture.

When things dry up sometime next week, I'll get back in there and finish it up.

Before the rains started, I broke through the water table and had about 6 inches of water on its own.

The oak is just too heavy with the root ball for me to move. I need to cut it up some with my chain saw, but I was trying to beat the weather.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

The water from that pond will go to my 3/4 acre pond I dug last fall. This one is part of my entrance and subject to dropping fairly quickly from evaporation. Its at the top of the hill in what used to be a dirt quarry. I got a good deal when I bought the land because of how bad it all looked. I cleaned it up, turned a mud pit into a pond and started on the roads.

The new pond is right over the cliff about 400 feet away. I have a 1 hp shallow well pump and some 1 inch pipe.

A future project is to build a rock waterfall on the cliff to give the apperance that the water is coming naturally into this pond.

 

[samission]

Hey Eddie,

Looking good /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif, wished I had a spring to help feed my little 1/2 acre pond.

I like the ideal of the pump to create a faux waterfall, just hope you don't have the troubles with the pump that I have had in the past.

I found a maker of waterfall pumps that gives a 4 year warranty, if it stops working for any reason, they will replace it for free and give you a new 4 year warranty with the replacement pump, can't seem to remember the company right off the top of my head, must be getting older. I will get it and let you know if you want?

Again keep up the great work.

Keep it safe,
Steve

 

[EddieWalker]

Steve,

Yes, I'd appreciate the name of the pump manufacturer. I already have the pump to transfer the water to the main pond, but will need another pump for the base of the waterfall to keep recirculationg water to keep the effect all day long.

I've looked at quite a few brands and havn't decide what I like the best. On one hand I've found the cheapy ones work pretty good, and when they die, you just buy a new one. I've heard the high end ones will die just as quickly, but I don't have any first hand knowledge.

Thats a project that wont be ready until early next spring anyway, so I've got plenty of time.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thought I'd add a few more photos to this project.

after I got all the dirt out of the hole with the dozer, I brought in the backhoe to dig out some more. I love over kill!!!

 

[EddieWalker]

In this photo, I'd gotten too close to the edge and into the mud, which means I'm stuck. Good thing for the hoe stick to pull me out.

After doing the exact same thing twice, I decided I was done digging around the edge.